Last



Patented Mar. ls

citiran srn''rns GUY B. rrrz, or neseser, Meri-m, assrenon ro rrra-nivrrrnn Domeni: rrvor Lesa:

COMPANY, or AUBURN, Mai-nn, a conroise'rron or LAST.

Application filed May 15,

To aZZfwho/m it may concern:

Be it-:k'nown that I, GUY BFITZ, a oitizen of the United States, residng at Auburn, in the county 'of ndroscoggin and "Sta-te of Maine, have invented certain new and useful rnprovements in Lasts, ofwhich the following is a 'specifieation fhis inve-ntion relates to block laste, or lasts having a block or part in the uppeiI part of the` instep which is .movable to re lease or restore the lasting :ten'si'on in Vthe waist fof the shoe, thereby enabling the last to be xremovedfrom orproperly inserted in theishoe.

"Block laste are .universally used in turnshoernaking, especially in the lsecond last ing. It hasbeen found impraetical to put a hinge last into a turned shoe, as itcrowds thepper ahead of t'whenbeing vinserted, instead of stretching t laterally, as desred. The main .body of a blocklast can be placed in the turned shoe'w'ithout -nndue longitudinal dist-urbance ofthe upper, and the insertion of the block will then pull the upper laterally into proper position.

Some sort of connection has \been found necessary between the block and :nain body of the last in order to prevent loss of the block when the last is not in use, and a cord has been almost universally' used for that purpose. The use of the ccrd is attended with diflicnlty due to the fact that it gets between the block and main body, thus preventing the proper seating of the block, which is a troublesome accident, especially in high shoe where the last cannot be easily manipulated. The cord is also frequently cutl by being caught between the jack and the last cone, and the block is then separated and often lost.

It is an object of the present inventon to remedy the above described diliiculties, among others, by providing a connection between the block and the main body, which will not be subject to these disadvantages and will at the same time retain the great advantage of the loose cord connection which permits the block to be disposed out of the way when, for example, a high shoe is being manipulated on a jack, as will be more fully pointed out below.

An important feature of the invention consists in a link connection be- 1919. Serial NO. 297,264.

tween the body an-,blockzof a, block-last arrange'd [to place the block in nxinoperative .position substantially above its'norma'l open atve position, .so that it lis held in vthejlfl'ont opening of `a shoe in connection `with Which the last is being zrnanipjulated without undue .interfere'nce With theshoe .parts This land votherz features, of the invention .will be better understood from the following description of a preferred V`ernbodiinent thereof selected for illustrati-ve purposes 'and o shown in the drawing yJhiCh'illHStra-tesa last partly in section.

The body lofv thev last 'and the block 2 may; be forme-d,- as isusual, inone' piecev in a last lathe, 'andthe' `.block vthen cutl out along;I a sca'rf by a l,bandfsa-w. lnthe secant vfaces of the 'twoparts' are'preferably formed rertically registeringl g-roov'es t and 15,, rcspectively. (The metallioeonnecting link 6 seated-i-n these grooves, with itsends pivoted on pins 7 and 8 `lseated in thevbody and block respectively. The pivots? v and Sere preferably so stuete 'that the' line joining 'them extends forwardly across the cut 3 and makes a forwardly and downwardly opening acute angle with it, for a purpose that will be described.

A socket 9 in the body communicating With the grcove li containsa coll spring 10 upon which is seated an anti-friction device in the shape of a ball 11 resting against the rear end of the link 6 which is formed With a lateral projection having a hnrnp 12. The hurnp is so situated that the hurnp lies'on one side or the other of the ball, according as the block 2 is in o-ne or the other of itsl two extreme positions. The spring and ball thus hold the block resiliently in either extrenie position. The link and projection really constitute a lever actuated by the ball. The acute angle between the cut 3 and the link causes the action of the springto tend to throw the pivot 8 down closer tothe cut when the block is in operative position, and therefore to force the block positively into proper position. The described position of the link also enables it to act very directly as a strut to resist any tendency of the block to crowd upward and backward under the lasting tension. The block may have its forward end deeply curved as at 13 in order to seat it firmly in the body at this point,

g ine/,seo

thus avoiding the necessity of using the wellknown dowel, if desired. A hook hole 14 is provided to afford a convenient means of manipnlating the block.

The drawing shows in dotted lines the position of the block When separated from the body to permit insertion or removal of the last. The block is displaced in a substantially vertical direction, assuming a position directly above its normal position, and consequently Well forward of the jack pin thiinble. Thus When the last is inverted on a jack, the displaced block Will hang alongside and in front of the jack so that a high shoe can be draWn down over the last Without interference between the upper and the block. The block will preferably be rotated slightly in being drawn up, so that the lower end Will slip back to get better clearance before being raised, and vice versa. The arrangement of the bonding means between the block and body of the last so as definitely to position the block in the front opening of the upper is an important feature of the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A block last having registering grooves in the body and block and a link lying in the grooves and pivoted to the two said last parts, the length of the link being arranged to seat the block properly in operative position and to support it, When displaced, in a position snbstantially above its operative instep position, Well forward of the heel,

whereby the block Will be positioned in the front opening of a shoe in connection with Which the last is being manipulated..

2. A two-part block last having registering plane vertical grooves in the body and block and a flat link itting in the grooves and pivoted to the body and block, the length of the link being arranged to seat the block properly in operative position on the body, and the flat contour of the link cansng the block to have a substantially vertical }novement of displacement, Whereby it is kept in front of the last in the front opening of a shoe in Which the last is being inserted.

A block last having a link uniting its body and block, the said link being joined to said parts at its ends respectively, and arranged to present a downwardly and for- Wardly opening acute angle With the cut in the last when operatively arranged Whereby the link tends to c-rowd the block into operative position when the block is moved toward such position.

4:. A block last having a lever nniting its body and block7 said lever being pivoted in each part, and means for Operating the lever to move the block into operative position.

5. block last having a lever uniting its body and block, said lever being pivoted in each part, and a resilient member arranged to press on one side or the other of said lever according as the block is in operative or inoperative position to resiliently hold the block in such position.

In testimony Whereof I affix my signature.

GUY B. FlTZ. 

